Interactive communication and data processing system for restaurant services

ABSTRACT

An interactive local and wide area network system is for communications between the restaurant service elements providing service to a customer and for recording of selected related service data for real time information and for review and analysis and for management control. The wide area network uses distributed data processing for the collection and analysis of related area wide restaurant operations for use in management and control.

This is a divisional application of application of co-pendingapplication Ser. No. 10/065,534, filed on Oct. 28, 2003.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the improvement of customer service inrestaurants and for other on site services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Often times, patrons in a restaurant require service to change theirorder, refill their drink or for some other need requiring assistance.Getting the server's attention can be a challenge in some modernrestaurants. Visibility, noise and other factors often impair theability of patrons to get the assistance they may need in a timelyfashion.

In the past, some restaurants implemented a service call system byinstalling a lamp or bell at each dining table. One system used a lampinstalled on each table. If patrons need service, they could turn thelamp on at their table to indicate to the server that something wasneeded. The server would then go to the table and assist the patrons.While this method of calling for service was effective at thatrestaurant, it is impractical in most modern, upscale restaurants due tovisibility and privacy issues. Additionally, the problem of installingwiring to each table to power the lamp is not practical in many modernrestaurant facilities.

In a system, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,366,196, a wireless waiterpaging system included a plurality of table transmitters whichtransmitted a ‘waiter call’ signal, a central unit which received the‘waiter call’ signal from the table transmitter and relayed the ‘waitercall’ signal, and a plurality of waiter pager units, associated with aset of tables, which receive the ‘waiter call’ signal from the centralunit. The pager unit notifies the waiter via a vibrator or buzzer that arequest has been received and displays the request. In a secondembodiment, there is no central unit. Rather, the waiter pager unitsreceive the ‘waiter call’ signal directly from the table transmitters.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,090 shows a communication apparatus, as used inhospitality establishments such as restaurants or the like, comprising anetwork of transmitters and receivers communicating with each other bymeans of UHF radio frequency signals. Each transmitter is linked to oneor more associated receivers and can be individually activated totransmit a selected one of a number of different predetermined messagesto its associate receivers along a corresponding communication channel.Each transmitter is placed in an active state by means of a respectivemessage selector, which enables a user thereof to select thepredetermined message to be transmitted by the transmitter.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,798 shows a restaurant transaction processing systemand method which includes portable computing devices and which employscordless telephone transceivers for wirelessly transmitting orders.

However, while improving customer communications and organization ofservices, these devices are not designed to assist restaurant customerswhen they have need for service, while, at the same time, assistingmanagement by providing direct oversight of on-site operations,interactive communications with the customers, or tracking calls fromcustomers and providing statistical information about the costefficiency of the operation.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The deficiencies described above are solved by the invention, asdisclosed herein, that is designed to be easily installed in anyrestaurant or on-site service environment, either at the time of newconstruction or after the restaurant has opened for business. It has asits objectives, elimination of direct line of sight for communicationbetween a server and table or the installation of wiring. It provides ameans for management to see and track the number and types of calls forservice, allowing improvements to be made and helping to preventdissatisfied customers from leaving the restaurant without the managerbeing aware that there has been a problem.

The invention is described as an Interactive Communication and DataProcessing System for Restaurant Services, comprising hardware andsoftware components and operates as a system for calling for service, ina hospitality setting, such as for example in restaurants.

The System is designed for operation in a restaurant environment orother on-site service environment to assist customers when they haveneed for service. It also assists management by tracking calls fromcustomers and providing statistical information about the timeliness orcost efficiency of services rendered. It is designed to be easilyinstalled in any restaurant environment, either at the time of newconstruction or after the restaurant has opened for business.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, as disclosed according toits inventive principals, the invention comprises a data processingsystem, using hardware and software components as may be commerciallyavailable. However, the inventive principles are not limited tocurrently available technology but may be used with any interactivecommunication and data processing technology now in use or which may bedeveloped for processing any form of information in a form translated ortranslated from a human perceptible form into a form which can beprocessed electronically or by means of light or other means now inexistence or hereafter developed, for processing and transmission andfor translation back into human perceptible form.

The inventive system employs a plurality of customer call units, placedaround the service area, for example on the diners' respective tables.Each call unit includes a transmitter for interactive communication withthe portable response units carried by servers. The communication may beby radio frequency as disclosed for a preferred embodiment or any othermeans of remote communication now or hereafter developed. With the callunits and the portable response units, the system employs as a basestation, a central processing unit and may include a smaller unit suchas for example a notebook or other computer device which may be used toaccess and copy the base station stored information and for processingthe information.

In a preferred embodiment, as shown and described, the system comprisedof the data processing unit, the call units, the portable responseunits, a unit allocated to a food processing area or other service area,and the central processing unit or base station, are assembled usingavailable data processing and communications hardware and softwareprograms, as would be known by those skilled in the art. However, thedisclosed principals of the invention are not limited by state of theart communications devices or techniques or computer processing devicesand operating software, but extend to any device now or hereafterconceived or reduced to practice and which performs the functions andmethods of the disclosed inventive principles.

The inventive system operates responsively to a request for service. Theservice request from the call unit is transmitted directly to a serverresponse unit or to the central unit, which responsively processes therequest to produce a signal, such as for example, as shown in thedisclosed preferred embodiment, an indication on the central unitdisplay or on a response unit display, identifying the call unit ortable unit transmitting the request. A server response then may betransmitted from the base unit, or from the portable response unit,which may be carried by the server or placed at a convenient location.The response may be to acknowledge the call, with the server being ableto transmit a separate message responsive to the call unit message andproviding an answer to the call unit request. The call unit and theresponse unit to indicate the call is acknowledged. Each of the unitsoperates to clear the messages once the responsive messages have beentransmitted and received.

The central part of the system is the base unit which is used to monitorand manages the communication between the table call units, serverresponse units and any external computing or data processing device.However, as would be understood by those skilled in the art, thefunctions of the central base station unit or a data processing unit forprocessing the data received or collected in the central unit is notessential to the practice of this invention as, and as would be known tothose skilled in the art, the functions of the central base station unitmay be distributed to one or more of the computer processes used in thetotal system, without departing from the principles of the disclosedinvention.

The system operates according to the disclosed inventive principles, byprocessing each call or request and response to produce informationabout the restaurant operation which may be stored for access and use bymanagement to analyze restaurant operation, over the long term or tocorrect any immediate or short term situations in the real timeoperation of the services, such as a neglectful waiter, or misdirectedfood orders.

Each of the call units may be preprogrammed with standard messages ormay contain a key pad or voice actuated software, permitting thecustomer to encode a custom message for transmission and display at thebase or server response units, as would be known to those skilled in theart of text messaging.

According to a preferred embodiment, as disclosed herein, the systemsoftware includes error correction functionality, as would be known tothose skilled in the art, to eliminate lost or garbled transmissions ordisplayed information from the processed data.

The data transfer to another data processing computer, whether locatedin proximity to the system or distributed through a wide area network toa remote location, may be stored and then processed by a statisticaldata processing program to compile statistically ordered data related tokey functions of the restaurant operation.

The system may be assembled from known and available components, aswould be known to those skilled in the art. The wireless connectionbetween each of the SNS units may be by an RF link using TDMA (TimeDivision Multiplexed Addressing), allowing one time slot for each callunit and permitting the separate identification of each call unit. In apreferred embodiment, and without limiting the principles of thedisclosed invention, up to 250 SNS call units may be placed throughoutthe restaurant, one per table. It may be a stand-alone device, ordesigned in such a way as to be physically a part of the table or aservice connected device on the table such as for example, condimentstray.

Additionally, each call unit software program will be arranged togenerate a unique identifier, which will, with its assigned time slot,identify the table call unit for the base unit and server response unit.

Some of the benefits achieved by the disclosed system are, CustomerBenefits: Immediate initial recognition of presence and initial service;More efficient service; Quicker service; Instantaneous medium to summonserver; Instantaneous medium to place orders, change orders, requestspecific items and/or services without having to speak directly to aserver; Real time immediate notification of bar orders without theserver having to spend time and effort physically turning orders intothe bartender with real time response from the bar letting the serverknow that the drinks are ready to be served; Instantaneous responses toall requests letting customer know that his requests have been noted andare being expediently implemented; Greatly reduce waiting time to paybill and leave; Enhancement of overall dining experience.

Individual Local Restaurant Benefits: Automated enhancement of ways andmeans to coax customers to order additional menu items and advise themof daily specials without tying up restaurant personnel; Enhancement ofcustomer satisfaction and contentment; Enhancement of repetitivecustomer patronage; Reduced turn-around time of table availability;Enhancement of managerial procedures and practices; Enhancement ofOperational Procedures and Practices; Instant and/or shared messagingbetween customers, servers, kitchen, bar, and management; IncreasedCorporate Sales and Profits through enhanced record keeping and trackingof statistical service; response times, team work (or lack thereof andemployee performance data that may be used to improve service,operational procedures, efficiency, cut wasted efforts, cut expenses,and increase sales and profits.

Corporate/Multi-locations Benefits: Enhanced upper-level managerialmulti-location data collection capability; Enhancement of ManagerialProcedures and Practices; Enhancement of Operational Procedures andPractices: Increased Corporate Sales and Profits; Increased CorporateSales and Profits through comparisons of all restaurant locationsresulting in corporate directives by overseeing and fostering enhancedrecord keeping and tracking of statistical service, response times, teamwork (or lack thereof) and employee performance data that may be used toimprove service, operational procedures, efficiency, cut wasted efforts,cut expenses, and increase sales and profits.

The features and functions of the disclosed invention according to itsdisclosed inventive principles are described in the following. As wouldbe understood by those skilled in the art or as described herein, thecomponents for constructing or operating the described system or methodare known to those skilled in the art and the particular components,programming or systems constructed, as now known or developed in thefuture, to practice the disclosed invention, would be known to thoseskilled in the art and are not to be seen as limiting the disclosedinventive principles.

Described according to the disclosed inventive principles and as aseparate system, a wide area network restaurant communication andcontrol system for data collection and analysis by a wide area basecentral processing unit connected in the wide area network to separaterespective restaurant locations, of data recorded from the operation ofinteractive communications between a customer communications unit, aserver communications unit, a meal processing center communicationsunit, or a central management unit, by a respective central base unit atthe respective restaurant locations, and for creating a data base recordof wide area restaurant operations and for data processing and analysisfor overview and improvement of the wide area restaurant operations. Aswould be understood by those skilled in the art, the wide area networkmay include a) first means for central wide area data processing for thewide area network for storing recorded data from a plurality of separaterespective restaurant locations, indicative of the respective times alocation is occupied, or the times of respective service request and ofthe associated responses, or the number of service requests, or thefrequency or times of interactive communications with a respectiveserver unit or food processing unit; b) the first means including meansfor storing as data, standards for respective times a location isoccupied, or the times of respective service requests and of theassociated responses, or the number of service requests, or thefrequency or times of interactive communications with a respective theserver unit or with a respective the food processing unit, for aplurality of separate respective restaurant locations; c) the firstmeans including third means for comparing a data set comprising the datafrom the recorded data for at least a plurality of selected respectiverestaurant locations with at least one of the standards and forproducing data indicative of the comparison.

Within the wide area network, as disclosed and without limiting thedisclosed inventive principles, the first means stores as recorded data,data indicative of the time duration a table is occupied at theseparated respective restaurant locations and the means for storing asdata, stores standards for the time duration a table is occupied by acustomer and the third means for comparing, compares a data set for atleast a plurality of the separate respective restaurant locations withat least one the standard for producing data indicative of thecomparison. As a disclosed part of the wide area network, the firstmeans for wide area data processing includes data base means for storingdata indicative of selected indicia of restaurant operations and forarranging the data for comparison with data indicative of standards forseparate respective restaurant locations, by time, or location, orclimate parameters, or type of restaurant, or customer data.

The interactive restaurant communication and control system, operates bya) enabling interactive communication from a customer unit; b) enablinginteractive communications with a server unit; c) establishinginteractive communication with a central base unit; d) selection of aprerecorded message and voice or keyed messages for transmission betweenthe customer unit, the central base unit or the server unit; e)recording selected data from respective communications; f) analyzing theselected data for management of restaurant services, and the step ofanalyzing includes the step of comparing a selected set of the selecteddata with operating standards stored as data and producing dataindicative of the comparison.

What is shown and described according to the inventive principles is aninteractive restaurant communication and management system for operationof, and managing the, interactive communications between a customer,server, meal processing center, or central base unit, for collectingdata of selected functions related to restaurant services, forcontrolling selected services and for creating a data base record ofrestaurant operations for data processing and analysis, for overview andimprovement of the restaurant operations, comprising interactivecommunication from a customer location; interactive communications witha server; operation of a central base unit and including interactivecommunications with a server or customer location, with selection of aprerecorded message, or voice, or keyed messages for transmission to theserver or the central base unit and with the central base unit recordingselected data responsive to the interactive communications, for analysisof the selected data related to one or more selected restaurantservices; and, a wide area network for connecting a plurality of centralbase units displaced from each other at respective remote locations fordata transfer from a plurality of central base units; and said wide areanetwork including a wide area central processing unit for processing ofthe data.

What is shown according to the disclosed inventive principles is aninteractive restaurant communication and management system for operationof, and managing the, interactive communications between a customer,server, meal processing center, or central base unit, for collectingdata of selected functions related to restaurant services, forcontrolling selected services and for creating a data base record ofrestaurant operations for data processing and analysis, for overview andimprovement of the restaurant operations, comprising, interactivecommunication from a customer location; interactive communications witha server; a central base unit and including interactive communicationswith the customer location or server, selection of a prerecordedmessage, or voice, or keyed messages for transmission to the centralbase unit or the server; the central base unit recording selected dataresponsive to said interactive communications; and, a wide area networkfor connecting a plurality of the central base units displaced from eachother at respective remote locations for data transfer of selected datafrom the plurality of central base units, and with the wide area networkincluding a wide area central processing unit for receiving, and forprocessing or analysis of, the selected data related to one or moreselected restaurant services.

Disclosed is a method for interactive restaurant communication andmanagement for operation of, and managing the, interactivecommunications between a customer, server, meal processing center, orcentral base unit, for collecting data of selected functions related torestaurant services, for controlling selected services and for creatinga data base record of restaurant operations for data processing andanalysis, for overview and improvement of the restaurant operations,comprising the steps of, interactively communicating between a customerlocation, or a server, or a central base unit; the step of interactivelycommunicating includes the step of selecting a prerecorded message, orvoice, or keyed messages for transmission to said third means centralbase unit or said second means; recording in a central base unitselected data responsive to the interactive communications, forprocessing of the selected data related to one or more selectedrestaurant services; and, connecting in a wide area network, a pluralityof the central units displaced from each other at respective remotelocations for data transfer of the selected data from the plurality ofthe central base units; and a wide area central processing unit forreceiving, and for processing or analysis of, the selected data relatedto one or more selected restaurant services

These and other benefits of the disclosed invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art upon reading the following description of theinvention along with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows in schematic form, the components of the restaurantcommunication system, disclosed in a preferred embodiment as connected,by wireless communications.

FIG. 2 shows in schematic form a preferred embodiment of the disclosedsystems arranged in a restaurant setting.

FIG. 3 shows in schematic form, a representative wide area network withdistributed data processing and connecting separate respectiverestaurant locations, each with the disclosed inventive system.

DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIG. 1 and in FIG. 2, the disclosed invention as shown in apreferred embodiment generally described in by numeral 11, comprises aplurality of means for calling or call units 13 A to L, one on eachdining table 15 A to L. Each of the call units 13 will include a dataprocessor and transmitter/receiver for receiving information from thecustomer in the form of an original message or as a selection of aprerecorded message, for processing and transmission of the customerinformation to a means for central processing or central processing unit19, a food processing unit 21, and to a means for server response orserver unit, shown schematically as units 17 A to G, associated with theserver assigned, or designated for service, to the table 15 A to L, andrespective call unit, 13A to L.

Operation The disclosed invention allows restaurant patrons at a giventable to communicate with a respective server or to the central unit. Ina preferred embodiment, all communications from a call unit 13 to aserver unit 17 will be received by the central unit 19 and may bereceived by the food processing unit 21, for the purpose of monitoringthe service requests and responses, for building a data base which maybe processed for the purpose of analyzing restaurant operations and forintervening in the spontaneous communication occurring between thecustomer call unit and the server's server unit or for communicationdirectly with the customer through the customer call unit or directlywith the server through the server unit.

The call unit may include a Table Active message, which can be activefor transmission to the central unit and to the respective server, whenthe customer is seated. This provides an indication to the server acustomer is ready for service and to the central unit that a table isoccupied and the restaurant operation for that table has begun. Theserver indication may be received directly from the call unit or fromthe central processor which may poll each of the server's status andselect a server for that respective call unit table based on individualserver loading of orders, or items ready for delivery, or tablesassigned or the time proximity for respective server optimal delivery ofprepared dishes, in accordance with the restaurant quality standards orother arrangements which make optimal use of server resources and fooddelivery, without departing from the disclosed principals of theinvention.

While the call unit may be programmed with prerecorded messages, theunit includes a keyboard or other suitable input device allowing thecustomer to create and transmit an original message to the server unitor to the call unit. Each of the messages sent from a call unit willincluded means for identifying the table and the server and may includemay include the following, as examples. Unit ID number (table number orresponse group number;) Type of call, such as: ready to order; Want tochange order; Need napkins; Need silverware; Need salad dressing: Needbutter Need bread; Need condiments (catsup, mustard, steak sauce); Needwater; Need ice; Need drink refill; Ready for main course; Plate isdirty; Food is cold; Salad plate is warm; Need assistance; Ready fordessert; Need check; Please return my credit card; Waiting to leave;Unit health status such as temperature of battery voltage.

The server unit may be preprogrammed for immediate response toacknowledge the call unit's message and may include prerecorded messageswhich may be sent to the call unit to indicate the particular responseintended, which may be customized for the particular restaurant and itscustomers. If more than prerecorded messages are required in anyparticular instance, the call unit and server response unit may includemeans for voice communication so the customer may communicate directlywith the respective server, at any time and where the server is located.

Over the call unit, server response unit, and food processing unit, isthe means for central processing or the central unit. The purpose of thecentral unit is for management overview and control of the restaurantoperations. It may include a communications link to the head waiter,wine steward or chef charged with food preparation, to allow each tocommunicate directly with the customer and to heighten the enjoyment ofthe customer dining experience.

Communication of all calls for service and all responses to those callswill be made secure by the system's software and error correctionmethods. Each unit in the system will contain a bi=directionaltransceiver that will send an initial signal and wait for anacknowledgment from the destination device. If any message does notreceive an acknowledgment, it will automatically be resent untilacknowledged. This insures that any call for service is received.

Data transfer to a data processor, may be included within the system.This part of the system allows separate processing the on-site data byitself or with other remote service operations and allows local LAN orwide area WAN operations to be statistically viewed by management,either at the restaurant level, or by senior management at the regionalor national level. Trends and deficiencies may then be tracked at thelocal and regional levels and corrective action may be taken to insure acertain level of service is being provided.

Statistical information that can be tracked and displayed on a desktopPC may include: Frequency and times of each type of call; Response timeto satisfy each call and/or each type of call; Trends in increasing needfor voice communications between the management, servers, or foodprocessors, compared to a disproportionate lesser, increasing, or flator decreasing revenues, indicative of misunderstandings that identifypossible deficiencies with a given server's performance and/or callresponse time, food service or management inefficiencies; Trends in siteoperation such as room temperatures, use of restrooms, turnover time oftables, times of day in which more or fewer calls take place, times ofday in which timeliness of responses is greater or less, or a particulartype of call being more or less frequent.

In a preferred embodiment, analysis based on the collected data is usedto provide information regarding accuracy of orders, generalattentiveness of server(s), number and types of mistakes, and timelinessof handling payment/visit termination and for improving the costefficiency of the on site service.

As disclosed for a preferred embodiment, the system may be implementedusing commercially available hardware, software and communications. Thecall unit may be, for example, battery operated with an RF link to thebase unit. This RF link may be TDMA (Time Division MultiplexedAddressing), allowing one time slot for each call unit. In a preferredembodiment, up to 250 call units may be placed throughout therestaurant, one per table. However, as will be recognized by thoseskilled in the art, the invention or the inventive principles are notlimited to the number of call units. The call unit may be a stand-alonedevice, or designed in such a way as to be physically a part of thefurnishings.

Each call unit for example, may consist of an 8-bit or 16-bitmicro-controller such as the Texas Instruments MSP430, one or moreswitches, a light source such as a bulb or LED to provide indication tothe users at the table, and an RF transceiver such as the XE1202 fromXemics. The transceiver will be a low-cost type, operating in the 915MHz or other ISM frequency band. To help eliminate RF interference, thetransceiver may operate using a frequency hopping spread spectrumscheme. Additional features may be included in the call unit, forexample, a key board or voice activated software allowing the customerto sent an original message to the central unit, food processing unit orto the server.

The system comprises a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network(WAN), which include the system functions performed on site or area wideamong a plurality of remote locations, respectively.

The local area network LAN may include the on site call units, serverunits, central or base unit, the food processor unit and a local dataprocessing unit which may be separate or within the central unit, aswould be known to those skilled in the art. The functions includedwithin the LAN may include the following operational functions asrelated to data collection or customer service.

Upon clearing a table, the service personnel may use the table call unitto notify the central unit the table is ready for service. The base unitmay be programmed to record the time and table location and provide anindication to management of table ready as would be known to thoseskilled in the art, for example on a visual display, which may bearranged to display on a screen the site table layout and the occupiedor unoccupied tables. The call unit may be used in a similar way tonotify the central unit when a diner is seated at the table with thecentral unit recording the relevant information, for example, thelocation, time, or number in the party. This information may betransmitted from the call unit or the server response unit or may beentered directly into the central unit.

Depending on the type, kind or style of restaurant, there may be aplurality of server visits, each of a separate respective nature andeach intended for a separate particular purpose. For example, arestaurant may plan to provide visits from a host or server to welcomethe diner and to take any preliminary orders or questions or to make thediners feel their presence has been acknowledged. The attendance of aserver or a wine steward may be scheduled and their respective visitsmay be notified to the central unit and recorded as to time, andlocation. The interactive capability of the call unit may permit thediner to communicate directly with the food processor to answer anyquestions about any dish or its preparation. All such communications maybe recorded by the central unit for later use in analyzing therestaurant services.

In addition to the capability for full interactive communications usingvoice or a keyboard input for example, the call unit, as described aboveincludes prerecorded message, which may be selected by the customer andsent to the server. All of the information relevant to anycommunications made between the customer, the server, and the centralunit, and the response, if any, may be recorded for data processing andanalysis.

In accordance with the disclosed invention, the interactivecommunications, for example between the food processor and wine stewardand the customer may add to the sense of personal attention received bythe diner, as for example the diner is alerted to the start ofpreparation of the chosen item or the food processor notifies the dinerof the choices available in the preparation of the dish and diner isable to give on the spot instructions, with confidence the diner isreceiving personal attention.

The functions of interest and relevant data collected in the centralunit, according to the disclosed principles of the invention, may be:Time in use by table, by server, by food served, down to the time takenfor the order, the appetizer, the entree, and desert, to the time thetable is again ready for service; The prerecorded messages sent from atable unit and the response times by the server, including the number ofrepeated messages; The diner's choices by table, server, amount of totalbill, and the sale of high margin items, such as for example beveragesand desserts; The diner's wine choice if any, which may be processedinto the wine inventory to alert management of wine turnover andpopularity; The time duration spent in communication with the tables bythe food processor or wine steward, by items ordered; The items orderedwhich may be used to revise the food inventory as to its currentposition and ordering requirements; The loading of assignments upon eachof the servers, by orders in process, tables being served, food itemsplace on order or waiting for delivery, server requests orcommunications in process, or any other task in the purview of serverwork assignments.

All of the collected data may be used within the LAN data processingsystem of the central unit or by a WAN distributed data processor toanalyze the service operation for trends in any of the recorded data,for example to analyze cost trends or preference trends of the customersor for cost efficiency. In a similar way, the data from each LAN may besent through a WAN to a central location for data processing, in placeof using the central unit on site for on site analysis or for analysisof a plurality of remote operations for a composite wide area systemanalysis.

The analysis of the data by the central processor in the LAN or QAN, maybe by comparison to standards recorded as data, for restaurantoperations or services, by a central processor at a remote restaurantlocation, or by the WAN central processor for selected remote restaurantlocations. The data or data sets selected for processing may be selectedby respective operations or services or by selected restaurants andwherein the selected data may be compared to respective standards forthe services or operations for individual restaurants by a LAN centralprocessor or one or more remote restaurants by a WAN processor.

The wide area network or WAN is shown in FIG. 3, generally by numeral40. The central wide area network process unit is shown by numeral 43connected to the separate respective LANS in restaurant locations 45A,45B, 45C, and 45D, connected into the network by respectivecommunications links 47A, 47B, 47C, and 47D. As would be understood bythose skilled in the art, the number of central processors used in theWAN or locally in respective restaurant LAN's does not affect thedisclosed inventive principles or disclosed inventive operation.

The central data processing units may be used to analyze the recordeddata in real time and provide alert messages to management for some ofthe more important restaurant customer service related functions, forexample, time of service and server response times, duration any tablehas been occupied.

As would be understood by those skilled in the art, the described andclaimed invention is not limited to a preferred embodiment but comprisesany system or method performing the claimed functions or steps, whethernow in existence or developed hereafter.

1. An interactive restaurant communication and management system foroperation of, and managing the, interactive communications between acustomer, server, meal processing center, or central base unit, forcollecting data of selected functions related to restaurant services,for controlling selected services and for creating a data base record ofrestaurant operations for data processing and analysis, for overview andimprovement of the restaurant operations, comprising, a) first means forinteractive communication from a customer location; b) second means forinteractive communications with a server; c) third means for operationas a central base unit and including interactive communications meanswith said first means or said second means; d) said first meansincluding means for selection of a prerecorded message, or voice, orkeyed messages for transmission to said third means central base unit orsaid second means; e) said third means central base unit including meansfor recording selected data responsive to said interactivecommunications, for analysis of said selected data related to one ormore selected restaurant services; and, f) means for a wide area networkfor connecting a plurality of said third means central units displacedfrom each other at respective remote locations for data transfer fromsaid plurality of said third means central base units; and said widearea network including a wide area central processing unit forprocessing of said data.
 2. An interactive restaurant communication andmanagement system for operation of, and managing the, interactivecommunications between a customer, server, meal processing center, orcentral base unit, for collecting data of selected functions related torestaurant services, for controlling selected services and for creatinga data base record of restaurant operations for data processing andanalysis, for overview and improvement of the restaurant operations,comprising, a) first means for interactive communication from a customerlocation; b) second means for interactive communications with a server;c) third means for operation as a central base unit and including meansfor interactive communications with said first means or said secondmeans; d) said first means including means for selection of aprerecorded message, or voice, or keyed messages for transmission tosaid third means central base unit or said second means; e) said thirdmeans for operation as a central base unit including means for recordingselected data responsive to said interactive communications; and, f)means for a wide area network for connecting a plurality of said thirdmeans for operations as central base units, displaced from each other atrespective remote locations for transfer of said selected data from saidplurality of said third means central base units, including a wide areacentral processing unit for receiving, and for processing. or analysis,of said selected data related to one or more selected restaurantoperations or services.
 3. The system of claim 2, including means forstoring or accessing standards and means for comparison of one or moreof said standards with said selected data and producing comparison dataand wherein, said comparison data includes data indicative of at least atrend related to one or more of said respective operations or services.4. The system of claim 3, wherein said at least one said standard is astandard indicative of a maximum time for table use or turnover.
 5. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein said selected data is indicative of one ormore, interactive communications at a separate respective restaurantlocation, between a customer communications unit, a servercommunications unit, a meal processing center communications unit, or acentral management unit.
 6. The system of claim
 5. wherein, saidselected data is indicative of time of customer ordering, or ofrespective customer items ordered and time of delivery of saidrespective customer items, and said respective standard is indicative ofa maximum delivery time or a maximum response time.
 7. The system ofclaim 2, wherein, said means for a wide area network includes means forstoring or accessing standards indicative of standards for the timeperiods of table, or location occupancy, or for respective kinds ofservice requests or responses, or billing amounts, or kinds of fooditems ordered, or the number or frequency of communications between acustomer communications unit, a server communications unit, a mealprocessing center communications unit, or a central management unit, bya respective central base unit, at one or more of said respective remotelocations; and means for storing or accessing real time data from saidone or more of said respective remote locations, indicative of said timeperiods of table, or said location occupancy, or for said respectivekinds of service requests or responses, or said billing amounts, or saidkinds of food items ordered, or said number or frequency ofcommunications from, between a customer communications unit, a servercommunications unit, a meal processing center communications unit, or acentral management unit, by a respective central base unit, at said oneor more of said respective remote t locations.
 8. The system of claim 7,including means for comparison of one or more of said standards withsaid real time data and means and producing comparison data and wherein,said third means for comparison, includes means for producing dataindicative of trends in said real time data.
 9. The system of claim 3,wherein, said comparison data includes data indicative of at least atrend for at least one of said separate respective remote locations. 10.The system of claim 8, wherein, said comparison data includes dataindicative of at least a trend for at least one of said separaterespective restaurant locations.
 11. A method for interactive restaurantcommunication and management for operation of, and managing the,interactive communications between a customer, server, meal processingcenter, or central base unit, for collecting data of selected functionsrelated to restaurant services, for controlling selected services andfor creating a data base record of restaurant operations for dataprocessing and analysis, for overview and improvement of the restaurantoperations, comprising the steps of, a) interactively communicatingbetween a customer location, or a server, or a central base unit; d)said step of interactively communicating includes the step of selectinga prerecorded message, or voice, or keyed messages for transmission tosaid third means central base unit or said second means; e) recording ina central base unit selected data responsive to said interactivecommunications, for processing of said selected data related to one ormore selected restaurant services; and, f) connecting in a wide areanetwork, a plurality of said central units displaced from each other atrespective remote locations for data transfer of said selected data fromsaid plurality of said central base units; and a wide area centralprocessing unit for receiving, and for processing or analysis of, saidselected data related to one or more selected restaurant services